AP1000

After a lengthy hiatus since April when China's State Council announced the suspension of approvals for new nuclear projects and a safety inspection of all  plants in operation or under construction, senior government officials have begun talking up the country's nuclear power plans again. On 22 November, in the lead up to the COP17 talks in Durban, chief climate negotiator Xie Zhenhua – who is vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) – said China will not swerve from its goal of coming to rely more on nuclear power.

Observers of China's nuclear expansion are still waiting to see what the government's post-Fukushima review will mean for the future of nuclear energy in China. But nothing so far indicates that the review will slow the scale of development substantially - or alleviate the pressures this nuclear building boom will put on China's human, regulatory, or technical resources.